After a night of rest, Snake and Luigi strapped up for the day's mission. With their weapons and equipment ready, they made haste to the PSC guard post that Luigi had mentioned the last night.
"You got any idea on how much manpower we'll be up against?" Snake asked.
"Nothing clear, but from the ones I've come across, there's usually only 6 guards at max, 2 guards at least." Luigi said.
"Yeah, I only had to deal with two at the post where I found Robin's location." Snake explained which reminded him of the two soldiers he spared. "By the way, if you sense any hesitation or doubt from any of the soldiers, try to spare them if you can."
Luigi was perplexed by such a suggestion. "Why's that?"
"They may seem like a tyrant police force, but I got a feeling that most of them joined up with well intentions. They joined because they really did think they would be working to help the people. They're being kept in the dark about the true nature of the mutants."
Luigi was unsure about the idea but eventually gave in. "All right, but only because I trust you."
"Thanks. Obviously I'm not suggesting we go non-lethal. We're going to have to take some lives if need be. Don't hesistate."
They showed up to the guard post and weren't expecting what they saw. "Holy shit…" Luigi muttered. There were six guards, but that wasn't the problem. The guards were mutants, mindless gunmen.
"They'll even use their own men as test subjects…" Snake cursed. He readied his weapon, checked his ammo. "Interrogation is out of the question now. We have to eliminate all the mutants."
"Right. Though I've heard that some of the guard posts have documents regarding travel routes. If we're lucky, we may find one after we get rid of all these freaks." Luigi hoped.
"Good to know. Oh and word of advice, don't rely on guns. Their mutation isn't very obvious but it makes them very resistant to bullets. However a blade works fine."
"You're better with blades. I'll draw their fire. You get in close and cut em' apart." Luigi planned.
"Got it. Let's go!"
The two jumped out of cover. Snake drew out his machete, while Luigi armed himself with a modified super scope turned into a SMG. Luigi fired at the mutant troops, knocking one to the ground. The other five faced towards Luigi and opened fire. While they weren't accurate shooters, the sheer number of bullets flying wouldn't allow Luigi to stand in the open. Snake entered from the side unseen, and killed the soldier Luigi knocked to the ground. He moved to the next one and decapitated him. The other four noticed Snake and turned to shoot. Snake rolled into cover before he could get pumped with bullets. Fortunately, they had finally used up all of their ammo. They went to reload their weapons.
"Luigi! Now!" Snake shouted across the field. The two jumped out of their cover and rushed towards the soldiers with blades. They each took two out, defeating all the enemies on the field.
"That wasn't too hard." Luigi sighed and wiped the sweat off of his forhead.
"All right. Let's check for any travel records in that tent." Snake pointed to said tent. Entering the tent, there was a desk inside, and a filing cabinet filled with documents. Luckily there would be no need to be digging through the cabinet, as the file they were looking for was right on the desk. Snake picked up the folder and read the contents. It was the most recent travel log.
"What do we got?" Luigi asked.
"It's on Shulk. This was filed a day ago. Says that he's heading to…Gaur Plain?" Snake looked closely at the name. "I can't say I know where that is. Do you?"
"Yeah I know where it is. It was Shulk's home stage back in the tournament, but aside from the part used as a stage, it's a really big area. But why the hell would he go there? True to its name it really is a plain. There's no cities or anything, and the place must look terrible after the catastrophe." Luigi thought.
"I don't like the sound of that. Something must be going on over there, he can't be going there for sight-seeing." Snake feared.
"It's south from here, it'll be about a day's trip on foot."
"Well let's not waste any time." Snake finished and the two took off to the south.
Back at Hyrule, Link went to the throne room to speak with Zelda.
"Princesses." He said as he entered the room. He pluralized to address Peach, who was in the room with Zelda.
"Hi Link!" Peach warmly greeted.
"Hello Link. Is there something you need?" She asked.
"I came to update you on the talks with Koopa Keep regarding the possibility of merging into one state."
"Oh good! Has Murphy given you his decision yet?"
"Sort of…" Link paused, Zelda looking curious. "He asked his people about it, and they agreed, but they want Snake to be a part of the government. That's their one condition."
"Snake?!" Zelda said surprised. Peach also had a look of surprise.
"You don't think he would make a good leader?" Link asked.
"It's nothing like that…" Zelda quickly said dismissing the assumption.
"I think Snake doubts whether he'd be a good leader." Peach frowned and also getting the curiosity of the other two.
"What do you mean Peach?" Zelda asked.
"Snake told me himself that he doesn't think of himself as being the type of person to lead a civilization."
"That's pretty ironic considering how this idea is his brainchild." Link said.
"Did they say why they want Snake to be a part of the government?" Zelda asked.
"Well I think it's pretty obvious. He's a hero. He's more charismatic than he gives himself credit for. Hell, even our people practically idolize him after he freed that entire slave camp. Lucina told me that she'd always be willing to fight and die for him if need be. He's really left an impression on the people."
"Have you told him about this?" Zelda further questioned causing Link to let out a frustrated sigh.
"No…and I don't plan on it. Especially since Peach just told us how he feels about it. If I tell him it'll just distract him, it'll be a burden on his mind. We can't allow that due to how dangerous his mission is. We need him to come back alive." Link reasoned.
"I understand…we won't tell him about this until he gets back. Tell Murphy the situation. They may have to wait awhile for a clear answer."
"Yes princess." Link bowed before leaving the room.
"How much longer till we get there?" Snake asked.
"About 6 hours." Luigi answered.
"Alright. We're not sleeping tonight, I want to make it in one trip."
"No arguments here."
Suddenly in the distance, they heard the sobs of woman.
"You hear that?" Luigi asked.
"I did. It's up ahead! Let's go!" Snake said and moved to a sprint. They went up a hill and saw a young woman with blue hair on the ground crying. Snake then looked ahead of her and saw two PSC soldiers with flashlights coming towards her direction. Snake put two and two together and concluded they were looking for her.
"She looks like she's starving." Luigi noted.
"I think she might been held prisoner somewhere, and she made her escape. You can only get so far without supplies though."
"How'd you figure that out?"
"Over there! Look closer!" Snake pointed to the soldiers.
"Shit! What do you want to do?"
"Simple…" Snake said and pulled out a sniper rifle. With incredible speed, Snake killed the two guards with two well placed shots. The sound of gunfire made the woman panic. Snake and Luigi ran to her aid, but in her hysteria she got up, took out a knife and wildly swung at them.
"Don't you touch me!" She screamed. The two easily avoided her attack.
"Ma'am please calm down! We're here to help!" Luigi tried talking sense into her. She charged into Snake with her knife in hand. Snake disarmed her and grabbed her arm, then wrapped his other arm around her to restrain her. She glared at him menacingly and tried to free herself but could not overpower him. She broke into tears and buried her head into Snake's chest. He let go of her arm and wrapped his other arm around her, and he slowly sat her down. She drew her head out of Snake's chest and looked at him.
"S-s-so…you're n-n-not one of them?" She said between he sobs.
"Can you define "them"?" Snake asked even though he had a good idea of what the answer was.
"The Committee's men."
"No, we're not with them. We're actually being hunted by them. Seems like you're in the same boat." Snake reached into his bag and pulled out one of his rations. "You need to eat. Here."
Handing her the ration, she was quick to dig into the meal. "Thank you." She said after finishing. Snake picked her up in his arms bridal style and began to move. The woman, exhausted, passed out in his arms.
"Looks like our trip to Shulk is going to have to wait Luigi. We have to get her safe."
"Right. But where are we going to bring her?"
"I'd normally call Link to send a rescue party, but I can't ask him to send his men all the way up here. We'll worry about that later. Let's find a place to hide out in for the night."
Taking the woman into a nearby cave, they set up camp in there for the night to guarantee her safety, serving her another meal as well.
"You're not injured are you?" Snake asked.
"No, I was just very tired. Thank you for your concern. Who are you two?" The lady asked.
"I'm Luigi, and my friend here is Snake." Luigi introduced for them.
"Can we ask who you are?" Snake questioned.
"My name is Caeda."
"Nice to meet you Caeda."
"Snake and Luigi…you're the men that my husband wants dead." She realized. Snake and Luigi looked to each other confused.
"Uh…who is your husband?"
"The leader of the Committee, Marth Lowell."
The answer stung Snake and Luigi in the back. This had just become an uncomfortable situation.
"Looks like we have…a lot to discuss." Snake sighed.